Controversial plans to open Bristol’s first 24 hour homeless shelter look set to be given the go-ahead next week despite public anger that the scheme is being “rushed through” without “proper consultation”.

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More than 130 objections to the scheme have been received by the authority.

One of the main issues is the speed with which the application is being processed and a lack of public engagement.

Plans for the homeless shelter

Plans to convert the former council office into a homeless shelter were formally announced in July this year, which has left just four months to get the project signed-off before the planned October opening.

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Other concerns related to noise, drug-use and the location of the shelter in a "quiet and predominantly residential" area of the city.

There is also worry that the area would see a concentration of homeless people if the plans were approved, with another homeless shelter, Wick House, just a mile down the road.

One resident said: “As an area we have already taken our fair share of homeless people with associated problems. Crime is inevitable where drugs and alcohol are misused and I think this is ill thought out."

Some residents said they were worried that the bus stop near St Annes House would become “a likely spot for people begging”.

Around 100 people attended the event

And one objector wrote that the homeless were responsible for daily issues including "open drug taking, violence, theft, antisocial behaviour, overdoses and many other things that can have a hugely traumatic effect on people who are not used to seeing them."

One resident even said they “would be scared to go to work” if this shelter was allowed to open.

But the council and St Mungo’s have said the project is a “key milestone” for the city’s shelter programme.

The Shelter Programme, which launched in 2015, currently has four night shelters and an additional temporary winter shelter which operates during the coldest period.

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Planning permission for the new shelter has been labelled as “temporary”, with approval only being sought for it to open between October 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, and again for the same period between October 2019 and March 2020.

The application includes no indication that it would be open during the other months of 2019.

Charity St Mungo's was running the event

Bristol City Council has said that the city faces an increasing number of people sleeping rough, in addition to increasing pressure on demand for housing and supported accommodation.

And according to Government statistics released earlier this year, Bristol has recorded the sixth highest number of rough sleepers across local authorities in England, including the London Boroughs.

The council’s development control committee is due to make a final decision on the plans at its meeting on Wednesday (September 26).